Book II: The King's Dilemma

Chapter 53


General Ironwood stood over the battlefield, his hard gaze observant over the Kingdom of Atlas.

It was too late to save Mantle. The city below the stars had no lights—how could they, when they were black with Grimm?

Millions had perished without warning. None were granted the time to say their final goodbyes to their loved ones, whom they would never gaze upon again.

Contrasting the rest of his stone-set face, his lips twisted in anger.

The ever-cunning, wretched Queen. Salem was to blame. Although scouts had confirmed that she herself was not here, she was responsible for orchestrating this attack: a ground assault from the northern end of the continent, coupled with a secretive assault on the Floating City itself. No one could have predicted such an outcome.

Amidst the chaos, the brave soldiers of Atlas fanned out to extinguish the flames and the Grimm, protecting the people of the southern side by slowly advancing and holding the formations that had been drilled into them from their years of training and experience on the battlefield. Above, a fierce battle raged between the airborne fighters and the Lancers, Nevermores, and Razorwings. But every time it seemed as if they were going to take back the northern side, another surge of Grimm…

However, Ironwood had the uneasy feeling that it wasn't the Grimm that was just the enemy. And as this uneasiness took hold of him, he, no matter how he tried, couldn't shake it, like something truly uncomfortable was stuck in his back teeth.

No, they needed to clear the city of the Grimm first. But progress was slow. Ever since the assault had started two days ago, Mantle was hit first, followed by Atlas. But there was no existence of the perpetrators themselves, just the hordes of Grimm.

If only there were some way to get rid of all of the Grimm, or at least prevent more from coming in…

Suddenly, he gave a start—a thought came to him, which had been lurking in the back of his mind since two days ago, ever since this attack by Salem had begun, had started; but would it work? It was worth at least a try. Briskly, Ironwood turned and left his office; he began walking, almost running. He descended rapidly down several stairs to reach his elevator and, upon entering, hurriedly used his iris recognition, leaning in close to the camera, to authorize the lowest—hidden—floor. He pressed the newly-revealed button, and the elevator made its way further down the tower.

Atlas was not held up by its advanced technology, its supposed mastery of gravity dust which allowed it to float above the rest of the world. No, that was merely a fake military secret, known only by the most trusted within his circle.

The Staff. The Relic of Creation. A gift from the gods, this item held the sole responsibility of keeping Atlas afloat.

Of course, there were gravity boosters as well, fueled by gravity dust, but they were typically only for show. However, the top researchers working on Project Zeus had claimed that, given the chance, the boosters could truly up the city in case of an emergency.

But Ironwood was not foolish enough to test that theory today.

The steel doors parted, and the General reached the vault that housed the Relic of Creation. The great double doors required levels of authorization from him, all through automated biometric recognition—voice, optic, facial, and fingerprint.

When he cleared the access control and stepped into the final door, the outside world paused, and Ambrosius greeted him enthusiastically.

"The General Ironwood! How may I be of assistance?"

Ambrosius was a large, floating, humanoid spirit, between two and three times Ironwood's height; his skin was strange, unnatural blue, and gave off smoke.

"Hmm, let me see. Ah, so the Kingdom of Atlas is under attack," Ambrosius nodded solemnly. "Is there something you wanted me to build?"

"Please replace Project Zeus with a floating, invisible sphere," Ironwood stated.

"Hm…" the spirit raised an eyebrow, "Do tell me more."

"Project Zeus currently holds Atlas high in the air. I would like to keep the same framework, holding Atlas up, but an impermeable barrier which surrounds all of Atlas on all sides like an invisible fortress, and I alone have the ability to control who enters and exits."

"Ha! An invisible fortress! I suppose this is to prevent all the Grimm from coming in!"

Being familiar with Ambrosius, Ironwood held up another finger to stall the spirit's palpable excitement. He knew he had to be specific. "I'd like a device to control the passages of the entrances, for who to allow in and out."

"Then, you're saying that this proposed sphere shall have entrances controlled by a single device?"

"There will be four entrances: south, east, north, and west. The entrances would each be approximately the width of two large Atlesian air vessels, but the width of each entrance consists of two sliding doors, so they could be halved to control the flow rate of bodies crossing the border. The barrier should be nigh-indestructible, and the only way to enter is through one of these entrances."

With this, the General hoped that Atlas could be saved. If he could just institute border control, perhaps they wouldn't have such a hard time exterminating the Grimm. They could let some through slowly and sit at the entrance, culling them with an army of Atlesian soldiers ready to fire.

"Woah! I'm impressed. I see you've thought very hard about this!" Ambrosius laughed, then sobered up. "Hmm… then, if you would like that invisible fortress, we'd need to surround the Floating City on all sides, even the bottom… and…"

Ambrosius began muttering to himself, floating up and down and sideways and every which way, his hands moving furiously and drawing smoke-like objects that disappeared in the air after a few short seconds.

"I suppose that would work. Then, I shall grant you precisely what you asked for."


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Next Chapter: February 15th

-thann